World Survives Mayan Prediction

Put away your doomsday kits and end-of-the-world survival supplies because the world lives on. Despite the prediction that the end of the Mayan "Long Count" calendar today would be representative of the demise of our planet, the estimated time (11:11 GMT) came and went sans destruction—no mass suicides, no power outages from unprecedented solar flares, no magnetic shift in the poles and certainly no collisions with previously unsighted planets.

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Put away your doomsday kits and end-of-the-world survival supplies because the world lives on. Despite the prediction that the end of the Mayan "Long Count" calendar today would be representative of the demise of our planet, the estimated time (11:11 GMT) came and went sans destruction—no mass suicides, no power outages from unprecedented solar flares, no magnetic shift in the poles and certainly no collisions with previously unsighted planets.

While scholars, scientists and modern Mayans alike tried to debunk the myth and inform people that finish of the calendar simply represented the dawn of a new era, the apocalypse sparked a conspiracy craze among the public. Movies, such as 2012, fueled the fear, and TV stations capitalized on the prediction with shows, such as Doomsday Preppers, and by featuring interviews with civilians who were determinedly prepped to survive into 2013.

Even though doomsday scares have been occurring for years, this one remained to be the first that became a global phenomenon. Despite the years-long hype, this morning dawned like any other. As Chinese farmers left their doomsday escape pods this morning, NASA phones quieted after being flooded with worried calls and tourists in Europe left the mystical mountains they visited for this momentous occasion, the world quietly declared 12/21/12 a "doomsday dud." Looks like the only things that will be ending tonight are the work week and the winter solstice (at least for now).